The Brooklyn Nets' new era is about to begin with arguably Sean Marks' wildest experiment yet. Their unprecedented five first round rookies are already a part of Nets history, and excepting Drake Powell (knee injury), all will be suiting up for the first time in the 2025 NBA Summer League.
By the way, Nets fans, not to worry about Drake Powell — the New York Post's Peter Botte has reported that Powell's absence is mostly precautionary, and he will still be traveling to Vegas with the active roster.
Even without him, the Nets' biggest Summer League names will be on display -- namely the four jumbo playmakers they also drafted in the first round. Egor Dёmin, Nola Traore, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf lead Brooklyn's active NBA 2K26 Summer League roster, and are easily the highest-profile players on the squad.
Full Nets roster for NBA 2K26 Summer League
Player # | Name | Position | College/Country |
|---|---|---|---|
55 | TJ Bamba | G | Oregon/USA |
28 | Caleb Daniels | G | Villanova/USA |
34 | D'andre Davis | G/F | Mississipi/USA |
8 | Egor Dёmin | G | BYU/Russia |
10 | Tyson Etienne | G | Wichita State/USA |
12 | Tosan Evbuomwan | F | Princeton/England |
16 | Grant Nelson | F/C | Alabama/USA |
41 | Quincy Olivari | G | Xavier/USA |
31 | Nick Ongenda | C | DePaul/Canada |
4 | Drake Powell | G/F | UNC/USA |
00 | Terry Roberts | G | Georgia/USA |
17 | Tyrese Samuel | F/C | Florida/Canada |
77 | Ben Saraf | G | Israel |
26 | Drew Timme | F | Gonzaga/USA |
19 | Nolan Traore | G | France |
18 | Danny Wolf | F | Michigan/USA |
Odd absences from Nets' third-years
Notably absent from Brooklyn's Summer League roster are 2023 classmates Noah Clowney, Dariq Whitehead, and Jalen Wilson. And while it is relatively uncommon to see third-year players to play summer ball in the NBA, it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary for these three to make the trip to Vegas. All were taken as high-value flyers, as per usual with Sean Marks' front office. While none of them have necessarily panned out into stardom quite yet, all three have shown flashes of the potential that they were drafted for.
With, of course, the exception of Dariq Whitehead. Graded as the highest-upside of the Nets' 2023 picks in a list compiled by Nets Daily's Bob Windrem, Whitehead has largely been unable to break through past the broken foot that kept him off the floor during his lone season at Duke. Moreover, he was also the only one of the three to spend significant time in the G League in the 2023 class' sophomore campaign
There's also the matter of how the Nets' newest rookies -- and the new-fangled offense that comes with them (more on that later) -- affect the fit that Wilson, Whitehead, and Clowney have. It would stand to reason that if they were in the Nets' future plans, at least one of the three would have been on the roster to assess how the old gels with the new.
In any case -- it's hard to see the motive for all three being absent from Brooklyn's 2K26 Summer League roster. Maybe they're viewed as your average safe third-year player. Maybe one of them (most likely Whitehead) is already bound for the G-League. Or maybe the Nets just want to see how their four giant playmakers play together without anything in the way.
Still -- odd.
Brooklyn Nets' NBA 2K26 Summer League schedule
The Nets are set for five games on the Summer League docket. Their first four opponents have already been listed, with the fifth to be determined as of yet. Per Summer League rules, if the Nets finish in the league's top four after their first four games, they move to the playoffs. If they don't, they play in one more guaranteed game.
Date | Opponent | Time (ET) | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
Thursday, July 10 | Oklahoma City | 5:30 PM | ESPN2 |
Sunday, July 13 | Washington | 8:00 PM | ESPN2 |
Tuesday, July 15 | New York | 6:00 PM | ESPN2 |
Wednesday, July 16 | Orlando | 7:30 PM | NBA TV |
TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Marquee matchups and rivalries
The Knicks may rule New York, but Nets fans could be in for a small victory against the blue and orange, at least before New York takes the games that actually matter (sigh). The Knicks' Summer League roster doesn't feature nearly as many first round names as Brooklyn's', which is to be expected from a veteran playoff team. Expect the Nets to largely run roughshod over New York.
Of more interest are Brooklyn's matchups against Oklahoma City and the Wizards. The Thunder's marquee name is Nikola Topić, who gets a redo of his rookie season after missing last year recovering from injury. Regardless, OKC still took him in the lottery, and moreover he projects to play similarly to Brooklyn's big hybrid playmakers. Expect big minutes on both sides from all five. Meanwhile, Tre Johnson III, Alex Sarr, and the Washington Wizards boast another challenge for the Nets' rookies, who face two early draft picks.
The new-look Nets offense
Looking at their Summer League roster, Brooklyn clearly plans to see what they've got in their first round rookies as early as possible. Outside of Drew Timme and Tyson Etienne, no player on the Nets' Summer League squad has played a single minute of true NBA basketball. Based on the four big playmakers they drafted, Jordi Fernandez clearly believes in the Nets' potential as a position-less team, able to switch endlessly and run an offense based off of constant motion and ball movement. And there is no better place to try that idea out than in the low-pressure setting that Summer League provides. Fans can expect to see all four of Dёmin, Traore, Wolf, and Saraf sharing significant on the court, most likely with a brand-new playbook in tow.